Hey there. I am getting the new Clarion head unit XMD-3. It says its Sirius ready? Do I need another unit to add to the head unit to recieve Sirius a reciever of sorts. Also what type of antennas are you running, And what fees are involved with getting it up and running. I know this has been talked about before but the post's were locked Thanks G"

I have XM but I think Sirius is about the same. I had to purchase the reciever box and buy an XM antenna (total around $300.00). Your XMD-3 head unit is only ready to run the sirius reciever. The cool part is that you can change your stations and see what is playing from your head unit or wired remote (if it has a display). I pay around $10.00-$12.00 per month for service and can buy a whole years worth or by the month, that works well for us in the MidWest with only 6-8 months of boating.

I have Sirius and yes you will need the brain and receiver. Look around and sometimes you can get a real good deal or even free if you sign up for a year or more. Get the small receiver, it's about the size of a mouse.

I use XM, so I don't know. I would recommend trying to listen for a few hours before you make a judgement. There is so much on XM, I don't know how I would be able to get a good feel for the stations by listening to the samples. Maybe a few guys with Sirius can give you some feedback.

I have the small mouse one, the XM3. It works good and is under the passenger storage area where the amps are. Not sure if the marine antenna would work any better. I like the antenna being out of the way and hidden.

Ok I was talking about this subject on Planet Nautique.com, This guy had som intrestion info Ill copy and past what he said , What do you think?

XM just went commercial free last February (except for channels like CNN). They have 10 to 1 the subscribers of Sirus. Check the internet but you will find XM has cleaner sounding music too. Remember, both Sat radio system use codec to encode and compress the music and XM seems to sound better. If you have an aux in on your HU then you simply plug the sat receiver into it. If you are buying a new HU you can get one that has either XM or Sirus. The sat receiver is a small box that plugs into the HU and can be controlled by the HU. Or you can go with a portable system like the Delphi Skyfi or Roady. This way you can have a cradle in you other vehicles and take your music with you. Price 10 bucks a month for XM and 13 for Sirus. You can also FM modulate through your existing HU if it does not have an aux input. This is the method I am using and have been really happy with it. As for ants. They are down to the size of a match box now. You just need to put it up high (on your tower if you have one. If left on the dash you will lose signal when peps walk in front of it. Good Luck

Not necessarily better stations. I think Sirius still has more stations that XM. The other thing is that on XM, once you have 1 account, you can have multiple accounts for $5 per month. So I have XM in both of my cars and the boat for $20 per month.

I think you are stuck with Sirius with that head unit. I don't think you can plug in an XM tuner to a Sirius compatible head unit. Although, it is the same plug, so I wonder if the head unit would adapt and play the XM radio if an XM tuner was plugged into a Sirius head unit?

The only thing about the 10/1 subscription rate is XM has more cash to upgrade and add more stations, which they are doing. They must be doing pretty well know since they just got rid of all advertising. The benefit is in the long term knowing that they probably have a better chance of surviving.

On the antenna, you don't need to mount it on the tower. Mine doesn't cut out at all in the storage compartment. If you are concerned about that, mount it up front as far as you can so no one can walk in front of it.

Grant some guy at Goodguys told me you can use either XM or Sirius depending on the sat unit xm or sirius.It does not matter that your HU is for Sirius. But your HU wont control the stations just volume if they are not mated up. If you combine an Sirius HU and XM service then you need an XM controler to change stations. Does this make sense?